LENNOX Lewis appeared to forget one of the oldest maxims: to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail.

The only person who didn't think Lewis arrived too late to get ready for a fight at 6,000 feet was George Foreman, who said: "Once you get in a fight it doesn't matter about altitude, longitude, latitude. All that matters is your attitude."

Nice sound byte, George, but not strictly accurate.

It was reasonable, however, to question Lewis's attitude as he appeared to be showboating when the knockout punch hit him, reinforcing the impression that he took the fight too lightly.

Did he underestimate Hasim Rahman, or had he somehow formed the impression that he was invincible?

It's difficult to know with Lewis. His has been a strangely unglamorous reign as Britain's first undisputed heavyweight champion for a century, more because he is such a private person than because boxing is a discredited sport.

Boxing is not alone in that. The age of innocence being long gone, it is no longer outrageous to ask whether the fight might have been fixed, or whether the world snooker championship is all above board (no game is easier to fix), or whether Arsenal 0 Middlesbrough 3 was the result of manipulation by some Far Eastern betting syndicate.

I do not, however, see Lennox Lewis getting involved in any chicanery. The fact that he dearly wanted the fight to be held in South Africa as a tribute to Nelson Mandela shows he is an honourable man, probably far too honourable in fact to be involved in all the nonsense which surrounds professional boxing.

Had he won, it was written into the contract that there would be a rematch. But because he lost, it seems, there is no such guarantee, so an unseemly legal squabble is certain to ensue.

The attendant complications of television rights will doubtless drag matters out, and by the time everything is resolved Lewis ought to be thinking more in terms of pipe and slippers than subjecting himself to the cannibalistic instincts of Mike Tyson.

As with Naseem Hamed, who encourages dislike rather than the indifference surrounding Lewis, the public tears shed for the loss of a world title have hardly brought a rush for the sandbags.

Naseem will be back, hopefully a little more humble. With Lewis it's more difficult to know because we're not sure what his motivations are. But I suspect he's too proud to bow out on a beaten note, so he'll press for the rematch with Rahman, prepare properly and restore his dignity to a level way above that of the sport he has graced.

TALKING of motivations, how's this from Tiger Woods? "It upsets me that my golf is presently yielding so little in the way of concrete results. Sure, I'm hitting OK, but it won't really satisfy me until I am carding the kind of scores which bring peace to the Middle East."

We all know Tiger hits shots which home in on their target like heat-seeking missiles, but we must assume he is talking about something entirely different.

The use of sport to settle differences is not unknown, but the concept that Tiger shooting 18 holes-in-one round Augusta would prompt Yasser Arafat to declare love to all Israelis is a little beyond my comprehension.

WHICH brings me on to Roy Keane. Sport has been a unifying factor throughout the troubles in Ireland, and as a lover of all things Irish I find it distressing that the overall image is so badly tarnished by a lunatic fringe.

Compared with bland statements of the obvious which most football managers seem happy to trot out, it's refreshing to listen to David O'Leary and Martin O'Neill.

But if either succeeds Sir Alex at Manchester United will they be happy for the team to be led by a member of Ireland's lunatic fringe?

Keane's manic nature could not have been more clearly etched in his face than when he eye-balled referee Andy D'Urso with such venomous hatred last season.

It surfaced again on Saturday when he tried to exact what he sees as revenge on Alfie Haaland, who four years ago was the subject of an airborne strike which put Keane out of the game for a year.

There are shades of Gazza about such self-destructive tendencies, but Keane doesn't appear to have the lighter side which permits Gazza some sympathy.

He certainly gets no sympathy from me. As a role model to youngsters he's a disgrace and should be banned for six months.

LAST week's relevation about the ECB clamping down on the amount of information county cricket scorers can give out quickly stirred things up.

The national Press were swiftly onto it, prompting a fair amount of backtracking from the ECB and words along the lines of "big misunderstanding."

It seems one of the publications they feel should be paying for statistical information is Wisden, with one ECB official asking: "What has Wisden every done for cricket?"

It's a bit like asking what has the bible ever done for religion?

Published: Friday, April 27, 2001